Only 55% Say They Celebrate Xmas As Religious Holiday

On this holiday, celebrated by 88% of all Americans, I thought you might find this survey by the Pew Research Center interesting. They surveyed 1,503 adults across the nation between November 29th and December 4th, and their survey has a margin of error of 2.9 points.

It shows that most people are simply not very interested in the right-wing evangelical myth of a "war on christmas". Only 37% think a christian-only display should be put up on government property. Another 29% don't mind a display being put up as long as non-christian groups can also put a display up, and 26% don't want any religious displays on government property.

Americans are not very worried about whether businesses tell them "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" either. Only 32% think a business should say "Merry Christmas", and 15% say they should say "Happy Holidays". A 53% majority say it simply does not matter which is used.

The third chart is most interesting to me. It shows that christmas is becoming a secular holiday in this country. Only 55% say they celebrate it as a religious holiday, while 33% say it is a secular holiday for them (and the rest don't celebrate it as either). Note that the younger the respondent, the more likely they see christmas as a secular holiday. It would not surprise me if when the next generation comes of age the percentage celebrating it as a religious holiday will fall below majority level.